Flock Together
by Ryssasaurus Rex
Summary: Fai has always been a bit of a nosy busybody. In fact, he'd decided to make a career out of it by becoming a journalist, a choice that would change the course of not only his life, but his entire world view. [KuroFai, KuroFai&Sakura, domestic monster!AU, post-Tokyo canon typical violence, monster!Kurogane and Sakura]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I've been batting this idea around of ages now and tweaking the universe to make it work better. I'm not 100% there yet but the first few chapters are mostly set up anyway. It's basically a domestic AU with bonus murder demons. So you know, if that tickles your fancy.

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"You're so lucky, Fai-chan! Not only did you find yourself a well off man, but he's so handsome too!" Hokuto whispered to Fai, her arm around his shoulders. He wasn't sure why she was whispering, they were in the back room and Kurogane was all the way up front in the store proper.

Fai laughed and poked Hokuto playfully in the side. "I'm not dating him for his money, you know," he said.

Kurogane and Fai had been dating long before Fai knew the first thing about the man's bank account. They'd been set up on a blind date by a mutual friend and something had stuck. Back then Fai had been waiting tables and chasing his tail trying to make a name for himself as a journalist. Kurogane had been the only break in his life, the single shining star in an otherwise bleak sky. Fai wished he wasn't being dramatic, but back then not a single thing had gone right for him.

That was then, though, and now he and Kurogane were living together in a whole new city. Fai didn't need to work, Kurogane's job was plenty to pay all of their bills, but Fai was never the stay at home type, too much energy, too nosy to keep the world locked outside. He'd found himself a part time job at some little bistro just off of Main Street, he kept the apartment clean, and his boyfriend was the finest thing this side of the Pacific. Fai's life had finally turned around.

There was just one teeny, tiny, little hiccup.

"Oi, are you gonna give me back my boyfriend, squirt, or do I have to come back there?" Kurogane's voice carried easily to the back room and Fai slipped free of Hokuto's friendly hold with ease.

"Coming Kuro-darling!" he sang. "I'll see you Sunday!" Fai said, waving farewell to Hokuto and pointedly not hurdling the counter and leaping straight into Kurogane's arms.

Back before, when Fai's life had looked like a proverbial train wreck, he'd been doing everything he could to make a name for himself. He'd gone to school for Journalism, he'd done all of his internships, had a resume that wasn't entirely skeletal, and was charming (in his honest opinion), but not a single newspaper or magazine or online gossip column had wanted to hire him. So, Fai had been forced to try and find a story on his own that would be big enough to get his less than impressive blog noticed and jumpstart his career.

The biggest scoop at the time had been a string of gruesome murders. There were never any clues, no evidence left, only the mangled, bloody corpses the victims. There was no pattern to the kills - time, date, victims; nothing had matched up. The only thing that remained the same was that there were always multiple victims found at once, and that the murders had been violent. Extremely so.

The police had begun calling the killer the Silver Dragon.

If Fai had been smart he would have stayed as far away from such a thing as he could. Sure, he had self defense training, he owned a taser and a can of mace, but for his six feet of height he knew he was scrawny and honestly, not all that brave. Fai, however, was either a huge idiot or had not a shred of self preservation in him, because he had stuck his nose in everything and anything that could have lead him to this mysterious Dragon.

"You know," Fai cooed, slipping his hand into Kurogane's and tucking himself into his side. "You don't have to pick me up and walk me home. I'm a big boy."

Kurogane snorted and pulled Fai even closer. "You're a trouble magnet is what you are."

"But I'm a cute trouble magnet, right?" Fai teased as they made their way onto the street. Summer had ended and the wind was cool enough to have him wishing he'd brought more than an old sweatshirt.

"Don't push it," Kurogane said, the banter familiar and playful.

In the end, Fai had found the Silver Dragon. It had been an accident, a perfect case of wrong place, wrong time. It had changed his life. It hadn't been anything Fai had been expecting, or even something that Fai had thought possible. He, in all of his foolishness, had been searching for a murderer and instead had found so much more. He'd discovered demons and spirits and all manner of otherworldly things. He'd found a completely new layer of terror to lay over top his already horrifying world view.

He'd also found a love deeper than he knew what to do with.

"Are you going out tonight?" Fai asked. It'd been close to a week, and Kurogane didn't like to push it.

"I should be fine for another few days," he said, leaning a bit closer to Fai. "Especially if you're willing to keep me busy."

Fai leaned up and captured Kurogane's mouth in a kiss, nipping sharply at his lips as an answer. He still didn't like that Kurogane had to go out a few times a month, and he preferred to not think about it at all. He knew what Kurogane was doing, but it didn't get brought up or spoken about outside of Kurogane telling Fai he'd be late coming home. It wasn't as if Kurogane had a choice, and Fai understood that. Still, he didn't have to like it.

Kurogane hung a left, pulling Fai along with him, and continued down the street leading away from their apartment. Fai might not have been paying much attention to where they'd been going, but he did know how to get back home. He eyed Kurogane suspiciously. When after a full block he failed to receive some sort of explanation or guess something himself (their anniversary was a few months off, his birthday was well behind them, and the pet store for that cat he'd been wanting was on the other side of town) he tugged a little at his arm. "I know you had a long day at work but you do realize we're going the wrong way, right?"

"We're heading over to the old rail yard. Our company still owns it even though it's abandoned and there have been reports of people poking around in it," Kurogane said. "My manager asked if I could go and see if it looks like kids have been vandalizing anything and if so she's going to put in a police report."

"Ahh, so we're hunting delinquents are we?" Fai laughed.

If it were anyone else Fai would make jokes about what an odd date this was to take him on, and how unromantic of partner he was, but this wasn't just anyone, it was Kurogane. They were both acutely aware of how concerned Fai got if Kurogane was late coming home without texting before hand, and even then Fai always got a bit twitchy when Kurogane went out on nights he hadn't planned ahead of time.

There were plenty of good reasons for this. To anyone else Fai might seem like a neurotic, controlling boyfriend, but the life Kurogane led, especially in secret, was dangerous. To both of them sometimes. It was best that Fai be with him and know where he was and what he was doing when he could.

The railyard sat a few blocks from Main Street, rusting away among other decrepit warehouses and squatter apartments. The wire fence surrounding the area was a solid ten feet tall, topped with nasty looking barbed wire that not even Fai, in his reckless and impulsive youth, would have challenged. Beyond the fence a handful of rundown, useless train cars sat, eroding away and forgotten on the now useless tracks.

Together they made their way up to the closed gates, a heavy padlock the size of Fai's fist was hanging from a thick chain woven between the metal bars of the gate. "I don't think this thing would open even if you had the key," he said, jiggling the chains a bit. "Sturdy though."

"Cut that out," Kurogane snapped and the urgency in his voice was enough to keep Fai from rattling the chain harder and cracking a joke. "Look."

Fai stepped up next to Kurogane and followed his line of sight to what looked like an old cable van parked between two of the rusty train cars. At first glance Fai would have thought it was just another hunk of metal left there to waste space, but upon a more careful look the tires seemed new and there were definitely tracks. The van had been driven recently.

"How do you think they got in?" Fai asked.

"Don't know. There's probably a section of fence cut out that they drive through and refasten so no one notices. We'll let the cops figure it out."

And wasn't Fai glad to hear it. He didn't know if it was a bunch of rowdy teens looking for simple thrills or something worse, but the less involved he and Kurogane were the better. The last thing they needed was the cops snooping around their lives, especially if Kurogane was going to have to go out soon.

They hadn't gotten two steps away when Fai heard the faint wails of a child coming from inside one of the hangers.

"Do you hear that?" Fai asked, already turned around and pressing an ear against the fence. "It sounds like a little kid!"

He heard Kurogane curse under his breath. "I knew there were people in there."

As long as Fai had known him Kurogane had always been very good at knowing if there were people around him. At first Fai had just thought it was a bunch of lucky guessing and paying too much attention to things around him, after he'd learned the truth, well.

"Why didn't you say something? Hurry up, we have to get in there, they're hurting a little kid!" Fai said. He didn't know how they'd get in but Kurogane managed plenty of getting into places he had no business being, and if pressed Fai was more than capable himself. He hoped Kurogane had been given keys or something useful by his manager.

Without a word, Kurogane scooped Fai up into his arms and dashed along the fence until they were out of view of the street. Fai looped his arms around Kurogane's neck and held tight. He was never really going to get used to the bursts of inhuman strength and speed Kurogane showed. For the good of both of them it was a rare occurrence, but even if it were an everyday thing Fai felt as if it would still send him reeling for a second or two.

They landed silently on the other side of the fence, Kurogane's jump clearing even the barbed wire effortlessly and his landing disturbed not a pebble of the gravel that littered the rail yard. He set Fai on his feet carefully and motioned for him to stay quiet and follow after him.

As they drew closer they could hear what was very clearly a man shouting something Fai couldn't quite make out while a small voice wailed in fear. There was a sudden crescendo to the noise and a ruckus before everything went silent for a moment. Fai and Kurogane both froze. They had enough time to share a puzzled look before the silence ended and the piercing shrieks of a child were heard again, louder and more frantic than earlier.

Throwing caution to the wind Fai ran into the warehouse, Kurogane cursing and at his heels. What they found he wished he had never seen.

A little girl who couldn't have been older than five or six dressed only in a filthy nightgown stood crying over a man, sprawled out on the ground and very much not moving. In the little girl's hands was a crowbar and both she and it were covered in blood.

"Oh dear god," Fai said, the words leaving him on a gasp.

"Ahh, shit," Kurogane added, sounding far less horrified and much more exasperated.

The little girl finally seemed to notice them through her tears and startled with a squeak that jolted her body enough to unbalance her and send her tumbling down onto her rear. Her green eyes were wide and frantic as she tried to scramble backwards away from them while still clutching on to her crowbar. She hadn't stopped crying and the tear tracks on her cheeks were clear, cutting through the grime and blood on her face.

Fai took a few slow steps towards her, keeping his hands in front of him and trying for a comforting smile. When he was just out of arm's reach of her he knelt down and held out his hand. "It's okay," he said gently. "We're here to help you. We don't wanna hurt you like that man."

Behind him Kurogane hadn't moved. "Were there others?" he asked and Fai was thankful he didn't bark out the question and kept his voice low and nonthreatening. The little girl glanced up at Kurogane quickly before refocusing on Fai, who kept smiling. Then, she nodded and Fai felt ice drop into his veins. "Do you know where they went?"

She shook her head. Fai didn't like this. He threw a meaningful frown back at Kurogane. They needed to get this girl out of here.

"What were they going to do with you?" Kurogane asked, this time he sounded angry.

The girl swallowed, her whole head bobbing with the motion. "Th-they said someone was gonna b-buy me."

Fai was not a man quick to anger but in an instant he was seeing red and the rumbling growl he heard from Kurogane told him he was feeling much the same way. Selling a child! What sort of heartless, soulless monsters were they dealing with here? "Where is your family, sweetheart?" Fai asked.

The girl's lip began to wibble and she curled in on herself before she started bawling again. "G-gone!" and it was the most heartbreaking sound Fai had ever heard.

"Hey, hey," Fai said, scooting closer to the poor child. She didn't put up a fight when he gathered her up in his arm and eased the crowbar out of her small, pudgy hands, handing it over to Kurogane who had finally moved closer. "You're okay, you're gonna be okay."

He had no way of making her okay or fixing anything, but the weeping little girl in his arms didn't need to know that. She needed comfort and safety and Fai was going to do what he could to give her that much, even if it was only a bunch of pretty words.

One of Kurogane's hands came up and brushed some of the hair out of her face, his large hands bigger than her whole face. He watched her over Fai's shoulder for a few moments and then something in the air shifted. Fai held his breath and willed whatever was about to happen to not, but much like the rest of his life, things did not go his way.

"Fai," Kurogane said slowly. They both knew Fai wasn't going to like what came next. "Do you remember what I told you about how things like me came to be?"

He couldn't breathe and he held the little girl closer to his chest, like he could shield her from reality. He nodded.

"Give her to me."

Fai pulled away suddenly, took a handful of steps back and away from Kurogane. "No! She's just a baby, look at her! Kuro-sama, she's just a little girl!"

For his part Kurogane did look sorry. "Exactly, she's young, very young. You know we have no control over this, Fai, now give her here."

"No," Fai said weakly, shaking his head, but even as Kurogane took slow, measured steps towards them Fai found he couldn't move his legs. In his arms the little girl was still, sniffling quietly into his shirt. "Kurogane please, no."

"It's not up to me, you know that." Kurogane's hands were warm as he pried Fai's arms open and lifted the girl out of them easily. He held her with one arm and lifted her chin with his other hand, leaving Fai standing beside him, trembling and useless. Even from the odd angle Fai could see how her pupils had begun to narrow and the subtle glow the green of her eyes was taking.

Blood spilled by young hands created monsters, violence the trigger to a deep, otherworldly survival reflex that changed humans into something more. It made them strong, fast, gave them amazingly keen senses and turned them into a thing of nightmares so that they might no longer be afraid. Blood on young hands made claws sprout. Kurogane was living proof of this and now this poor girl shared the same fate.

Kurogane had been alone, he'd told Fai. He'd had no teachers and by the time he'd found another of his kind he'd been nearly an adult. Fai would not let this child go through the same hardships and the way Kurogane tucked a few flyaway strands behind her ear neither would he.

"Alright, princess, do you know if those men plan on coming back soon?" She nodded and the grin that slashed its way across Kurogane's face held no mirth and chilled Fai to his bones.

It was all over terrifyingly fast after that. Kurogane had had enough time to stash Fai away in a dark corner before the sound of tires on gravel drained the color from what he could see of the small girl's face. Kurogane took her with him and Fai turned his back on the carnage that ensued. He screwed his eyes shut and curled in on himself and told himself that every one of those men deserved to die, for that little girl was not their first, but she would be their last.

There was screaming, bones broke and they begged for their lives.

The girl recognized the man who had slain her older brother, Fai heard her tell Kurogane. And then Fai heard Kurogane instruct her, he heard Kurogane teach her how to feed like he fed. One by one the broken, pleading voices died out and Fai told himself they deserved it. He didn't have a hard time believing it.

When Kurogane came to get him Fai did not feel for the mangled corpses on the warehouse floor. He only spared them a passing glance before he focused on two pairs of glowing, inhuman eyes, red and green, familiar and new.

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Reviews are extremely appreciated! 3 Hope you enjoyed!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hopefully the format I have planned for this fic won't be too confusing. This is a Past Chapter, which dedals with Kurogane and Fai before finding Sakura.

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Most people hated Mondays, which Fai guessed was fair enough. Mondays were the beginning of the traditional work week, they were the first day of school, they signalled the end of the weekend, the word didn't even sound pleasant. There were plenty of reasons for people not to like Mondays, Fai didn't argue that, but the day he hated most was Friday.

Specifically Friday nights, where people went out late to wind down from the week and let off steam. Except letting off steam usually meant making Fai's life a living hell. Whether it was rowdy college age kids too young still to go haunt a bar or crabby middle aged nobodies who hated their dead end jobs and wanted to take it out on the world, Fai had to deal with both and everything in between while he waited tables with a thin smile and a charming voice.

Weekdays were easy, they got a steady flow for lunch and dinner, the people were usually pretty mellow and had better things to do than loiter at his tables drinking a third cup of coffee and gumming up the flow of patrons. Weekends were fun, everyone had had all day to relax and it was time for laughter and merriment, even the Sunday crowd with their looming Monday morning were cheerier and easier to deal with than Friday nights.

Fai all but kicked the door open and slammed his tray down on the counter and valiantly resisted the urge to scream and walk back into the floor with a hot frying pan to knock some manners into his latest table. "That's the third time tonight!" he hissed to no one in particular.

Three tables had stiffed him a tip - well, technically only two had flat out stiffed him, but a buck and some pocket change did not a tip make on a bill over fifty dollars - and even after this latest table had been so damn friendly while he'd run to and fro making sure their meal was perfect. He'd taken special orders for each person in the party of ten and had carefully made sure no one's drink had run dry. He could not have been a better waiter if he'd prechewed their food for them and what did he have to show for all his hard work? A leaflet on the love of Jesus Christ and an officially blown fuse.

"They didn't leave you anything?" Chii asked, brow furrowed. She'd followed him into the kitchen and Fai wasn't sure if he was thankful or not for her concern.

Fai counted down from five so he didn't snap at Chii, she of all people didn't deserve his temper. He didn't quite manage to keep all the venom out of his voice as he threw the leaflet down on his abused tray with disgust. "Oh, they left me something."

Chii winced and picked it up with two dainty fingers. "Leaving nothing would have been kinder."

"You should shove that up their pretentious asses," Fuuma, one of the line cooks, said setting two plates laden with Fai's last table's orders. "That is just insulting."

"Doesn't do me a scrap of good either," Fai muttered grabbed the plates. "With the mess my life is I doubt even God Himself could help me out."

Fuuma laughed and gave Fai a sympathetic look. "The way your luck goes my guess would be it's the big man to blame." By Fai's wager he probably wasn't wrong. "Hey," Fuuma called as Fai lifted his tray. "Hang back after your shift, I think I know a way to bring a little sunshine to your rainy parade."

Fai doubted it and he knew the look he gave Fuuma said as much, but he agreed and headed back out to his table. It wasn't as if he had anything else to do and there was no one waiting for him back at his one bedroom apartment, not even so much as a goldfish or a potted plant. Fai didn't really have anything to lose.

One would think that being four years out of college with a bachelor's degree in journalism Fai would have a job that amounted to more than waiting tables and being screamed at by anyone who walked though the restaurant's doors. He didn't though. He had no jobs, no prospects. All he had was a load of student debt, an unimpressive resume, a meaningless, amature blog, and what was once a dream to be a big city reporter for the ten 'o'clock news. He'd busted his ass for four years only to find out that the real world didn't give a damn about his 3.7 GPA.

It was all about who you knew, not what. And Fai didn't know anyone.

He found Fuuma smoking out behind the restaurant where all the staff took their allotted breaks. Fai's eyes tracked the curl of smoke as it lifted lazily from the fiery red tip of Fuuma's cigarette and vanished slowly into the warm midsummer air.

"Not gonna tell me this is bad for my health?" Fuuma asked as he took a final drag and dropped the butt to the ground, extinguishing it with his sneaker.

Fai shrugged. "You're old enough to know better."

That got him a quiet laugh and a smile that managed to look friendly and condescending at the same time.

"So, what kind of guys are you in to?"

If nothing else could be said of Fuuma the guy sure knew how to keep a conversation on its toes. "What?"

Fuuma shrugged. "I've got a friend and he's been single for a while now, but I finally got him to agree to go out on a date if I found someone for him and I think you two would make quite a pair."

For a few seconds all Fai could do was blink incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah!" Fuuma said practically beaming. "He's a good guy, a bit rough around the edges, but he's honest and he doesn't play games. I think you'd like him, at the very least as a friend, and I know for a fact you could do with a few more of those. Though I can't see anyone with a pulse passing up on a chance to grab at an ass like his."

Fai put his face in his hands. "Oh my god, Fuuma!"

His cheeks were warm and, as poorly as Fuuma had pitched the idea, a date was an enticing idea. Fai hadn't dated since he'd first graduated, and that hadn't lasted very long at all. Maybe this was what he needed, to get out and have some fun, even if it was only for dinner.

"What do you say?" Fuuma asked, grinning like he could read Fai's mind (and really Fai wouldn't be too surprised if he ever found out Fuuma couldread minds).

And that was how Fai met Kurogane, who was unimpressive on their first date but adorably flustered on their third and by their fifth seemed to be everything Fai had never knew he wanted in a man.

Kurogane was impatient and moody to put it mildly, but he was funny and attentive and listened when Fai spoke. It didn't hurt that he was drop dead beautiful with impossibly gorgeous eyes and arms that looked like they could have stood in as tree trunks. He never made Fai feel bad about himself even though he teased. He took Fai's jokes with a grumble and a playful swat and a poorly hidden smile with each nickname Fai made up for him. He asked about Fai's degree and his goals, texted him about how his day was going, and even managed to use a heart emoji on a goodnight text after two months of dating.

Their first kiss was clumsy, noses bumping and heads knocking. The fall weather was unseasonably cold and they were outside and Fai's nose was running and Kurogane's teeth were chattering. Fai almost slipped off his stoop and nearly knocked them both to the ground. All in all, it was perfect.

Their first time was desperate and on Kurogane's couch. It was quick and inelegant and so good. Their second time was that same night and it was slower and just as good but in a different way.

Fai said "I love you" first and Kurogane said it back in a heartbeat.

More than a year later Fai was still waiting tables but he had someone waiting for him when he clocked out. He had a hand to hold and a mouth to kiss and someone who loved him. Fuuma had been horribly smug for weeks but Fai didn't care. He was in love and he was happier than he could remember being in his life.

Still, Fai had dreams and he was not about to give up on them. If anything, thanks to Kurogane, he was more determined than ever to make a name for himself. Kurogane was a successful engineer even though he was two years Fai's junior and about as charismatic as a cactus (Fai loved this man but he was devoid of anything resembling genteelness to the point of embarrassment).

"Man, I wish they'd play something less depressing," Fuuma said into his beer eyeing the bar television disdainfully. There was a news report on about the resident serial killer, creatively dubbed the Silver Dragon, and the latest murders, or rather about how the trail had just gone cold yet again on the latest murders. "That's not what I wanna drink to."

Fai had to agree. It had been three years since the Dragon had started killing and the police were no closer to catching them than they had been the first time a quartet of mangled, broken bodies had been found. Unless the serious looking man on the screen was telling them the Silver Dragon had been caught and brought to justice via execution Fai wanted to hear none of it. At least not while he was trying to have a nice time with friends.

The thick manila folder sitting on his desk at home was for when he was busy playing field journalist.

"I still can't believe it's a person doing this," Oruha frowned from her side of the bar before picking up the remote and clicking over to some ball game. "They still aren't sure if it's one person or a group, are they?"

Fai emptied his glass. "Leading theory is one very dedicated lunatic, but they haven't written off the idea of the Silver Dragon actually being Dragons."

Fuuma raised an eyebrow. "Knowledgeable, aren't we?"

"I'm a journalist," Fai said with a wink.

"Journalist by trade, busybody by habit," Kurogane said with a huff. "You're too nosy for your own good."

Fai and Kurogane had had this conversation before. The first time or two Kurogane had had good reason to worry, Fai had been overzealous and had meant to catch the Silver Dragon himself. He'd spent hours looking for a pattern in attacks, trying to guess when and where they'd strike next. Kurogane had understandably gotten worried and after a few heated arguments Fai had agreed to back off and quit trying to track down the serial killer.

What he hadn't agreed to was to drop the project altogether, and weeks later it was still a subject of contention. Fai was still set on finding a pattern or connection of some sort. He was sure there had to be something everyone was over looking. There was always some sort of common factor, Fai just had to find out what.

"Still on the hunt?"

"No," Fai said, rolling his eyes at Fuuma and Kurogane both. "But I'm still looking into things. I just need one little scoop though, something,anything. This could be my big break."

"Or you could get yourself killed," Kurogane said, face sour. "Can't you research something less deadly than a local serial killer? Like swine flu or spitting cobras?"

"Oh, ha ha, Kuro-pon," Fai said. "It's not like I'm dipping into back alleys and asking random bums if they've seen any gruesome murders lately. It's book work, connecting dots and making charts."

Which wasn't entirely true and they both knew it. Fai had been poking around old crime scenes, the ones whose trails had gone cold months or even years ago. In Fai's opinion he wasn't in danger, looking for clues in the distant past, but in Kurogane's eyes he might as well be wearing a target on his back and hollering "please kill me" in the middle of an abandoned saw mill in a B-list horror movie. It was touching that he cared like he did, but Fai had a job to do, even if no one was paying or thanking him for trying to do it.

Snarling, Kurogane slammed his empty bottle on the counter, earning a contrite glare from Oruha. "Whatever, I'm not doing this here," he said, standing and tossing down a few bills and pulling on his coat. "Text me when you get home, I'll be working late this week, I'll see you next weekend. Don't do anything stupid."

And with that Kurogane stormed out of the bar.

Oruha let out a low whistle and shook her head. "That boy of yours sure has a temper, sweetie." Fai sighed and leaned his head in the bar. He hated fighting with Kurogane, but he couldn't let himself be frightened away either. He was scared every time he went out to ask questions, but he pushed on, he had to. He had a taser and mace and a black belt. He wasn't helpless. "You know, he's just worried about you."

"I know, but that's not enough for me to stop. This is what I want to make of myself one day, he's going to have to get used to the idea."

He left the bar not long after that. He texted Kurogane when he got home and locked the door behind himself. Kurogane replied not five minutes later and within the hour Fai was in bed.

The weeks where Kurogane worked late were never fun. They weren't common, just shy of being a monthly thing, though they were random by Fai's guess. He didn't see Kurogane at all during this time, his boyfriend being too worn out by a day long shift and simply needing some time to recharge. It was fine by Fai, he understood the importance of personal space and time and took his where he could get it.

It was also the perfect opportunity to snoop around those old crime scenes without needing to come up with excuses for his worrywart of a boyfriend. Which was exactly what Fai was doing tonight and the tender hour of 3AM.

One of the downtown apartment buildings had played unfortunate host to not one, but two of the Silver Dragon's murders which had, understandably, prompted a lot of tenants to pack up and move somewhere with a lower mortality rate. Those who couldn't afford the move bought deadbolts for their doors and bars for their windows. Rent in the apartments had dropped and those who were truly desperate for a roof over their heads had slowly begun to trickle in. There were still swaths of empty apartments, but one of the ones that had been a crime scene itself had been rented out a few months ago and if only Fai could convince the new tenants to let him poke around a little he might just get lucky.

He had called ahead, set up an appointment of sorts with them. Four people lived in the two bedroom apartment, a pair of couples by Fai's understanding. Two of them worked night shifts, prompting the late night visit. He was supposed to meet them and explain more about his project and if they were interested he'd be allowed to look around.

When he got to the fifth floor apartment, though, he found the front door ajar. Heart hammering in his chest, Fai took a shuddering breath and silently slipped into the apartment, hoping against hope that the criminal did not, in fact, always return to the scene of the crime.

The lights were all off and Fai couldn't hear anything, not even a whisper of fear or pain. Hands shaking, he dug into his bag for his taser. Something wasn't right, he could feel it.

He didn't scream when he saw the first pool of blood, but it was a near thing. The moon reflected off the wet tiles and the blood looked black and not even Fai could lie to himself and pretend it was anything else. He stumbled back, trying and failing to stifle a whimper, and collided with something warm and alive.

Reflexively Fai spun around, taser ready, but found his wrist caught in a large, warm hand. With a squeeze and a twist Fai's taser was forced free and clattered to the floor. He was shoved back and something told him the push wasn't as rough as it could have been.

Frantically, his hand groped at the wall and when he found the light switch he flicked it on and that was when Fai came face to face with the Silver Dragon, blood on his face and arms and shirt, eyes inhuman and aglow.

"Kurogane?"

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